Vira Kravets is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Diego Bioengineering Department and holds a secondary appointment in the UC San Diego School of Medicine Pediatrics Department, Division of Endocrinology. Most recently, Kravets was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Bioengineering and School of Medicine at the University of Colorado. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree focused in Physics from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and a MS in Solid State Physics from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine.

In her free time she enjoys hiking with family and friends, dancing, doing yoga, and playing with her son.

David Ramirez is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California San Diego Bioengineering Department and UC San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics , Division of Endocrinology. David received his Ph.D in Bioengineering from the University of Colorado, Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Ramirez is investigating the role of beta cell functional heterogeneity and paracrine interactions in healthy paracrine tissue and in type 1 diabetes.

Aining is a Ph.D. student at the University of California San Diego Bioengineering Department. She received her M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Washington University in Saint Louis, McKelvey Engineering School. 

Aining enjoys playing piano, reading, and watching movies in her free time.

Nirmala is a Ph.D. student at the University of California San Diego, Department of Bioengineering. He received his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical engineering from VIT University, India. He is interested in studying functional networks in pancreatic islets using animal models and computational simulations. 

In his free time, he enjoys spending time at the beach, reading, trying new food and exploring San Diego with his friends.  

Yaowen Zhang is pursuing her master's degree in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego. Prior to this, Yaowen obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

In her free time, she enjoys going on road trips and photography.

Shane is an undergraduate student at the University of California, San Diego. He is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. 

In his free time, he is playing & watching soccer, running, gardening, and watching his favorite TV shows.  

Erika is an undergraduate student studying Bioengineering with a specialization in Biosystems at the University of California San Diego.

In her free time she is playing taiko with friends, reading, and crafts.